Unknown culprit in chemistry exam heist still at large
ANDREW THAGARD
News Writer
No new information has come to light regarding organic chemistry final exams that were stolen during finals week, according to Xavier Creary, professor of the 200-level science course.
"So far there's been no clue as to what happened or who did it," he said.
The graded exams were taken from Creary's unlocked office on Dec. 19 while he was at lunch, he said. The spreadsheet, which contained the recorded grades for the test, was also deleted.
Creary estimates that the job could have taken as little as 30 seconds if it was planned ahead of time.
"When I got back about one o'clock I noticed that my computer had been tampered with and the spreadsheet looked a little different," he said. "There was nothing on the spreadsheet. I thought that was strange."
Creary noticed that the approximately 200 paper copies of the exam were also missing a few minutes later when a student came in to view his exam, he said.
The professor scoured the room, looking for the exams before realizing that they had been stolen. He called Notre Dame Security/Police.
"They said there was very little probability of finding out who did it. I have absolutely no clue as to who did it and why," Creary said.
Although the exams and grades were lost, Creary said he was able to use back-up copies of the grades to evaluate each student. The exam totaled 150 points but needed to be converted to a 200-point scale to determine the final grades. Creary passed along the raw scores to one of the departmental secretaries, who recomputed them and e-mailed them back. When he discovered that the exams had been stolen, he called the secretary and the spreadsheet was e-mailed to him again.
"Nothing was lost. The student should have figured out that backups are routine," Creary said. "I don't see what the person had to gain from doing this unless it was a malicious act designed to harm the class."
Creary said that grades were not substantially affected by the incident, however he normally re-grades final exams of borderline students before determining their final grade. This year, he did not have that opportunity.
The evening that the exams were stolen, Creary sent an e-mail to the students in the class informing them of the situation and asking them to come forward with any information. In the e-mail, Creary also threatened not to curve the final grades unless the exams were returned, hoping that it would motivate the perpetrator to turn himself in.
No students, however, came forward with any information leading to the return of the exams, and Creary curved the final grade despite the earlier threat.
Students in the course were surprised and disappointed that the exams were stolen.
"I was very upset because I couldn't believe that someone would not value what I put in and would insult Dr. Creary who took the time to grade the exams. I'm shocked," said Jacqueline Bowers, a sophomore science preprofessional student.
She estimates that she spent between 12 and 15 hours studying for the two-hour, cumulative exam.
Although Bowers received the final grade that she had anticipated, she did not have the opportunity to look over her exam, nor will she be able to use it as a resource for the second semester of the cumulative course.
"I don't have my final to look at," she said. "That made me angry, too. I have no idea what my answers were."
Despite the theft, Creary plans to take no additional security precautions, including keeping the door of his office locked during the day, saying that it will send the wrong message to students.
"I never close my office door. It's sort of a policy," he said. "It's almost a routine practice that the doors are open to come in. Students are welcome to come in at any time."
Creary has been teaching chemistry at Notre Dame since 1974 and said he has never had anything like this happen in the past. At the same time, however, he's not completely shocked.
"I've learned that I'll never be amazed at what people can do, will do," he said.
All News Stories for Thursday, January 16, 2003
